A WOMAN was caught on video going ballistic aboard a Spirit Airlines plane that made an emergency landing because of a medical emergency — leaving other passengers and at least one flight attendant in tears, according to reports.

The Houston-to-Minneapolis flight was forced to divert to Rochester, Minnesota, when a man required medical help about an hour into the trip, the New York Post reported.

“The attendant thought that he was just sleeping but he was actually in a coma,” passenger Stephanie Calder told KHOU.

But matters turned worse after landing when the crazed woman marched up and down the aisle and launched a profanity-laced and threatening tirade.

“All of a sudden that’s where the lady came running from the back of the plane,” Ms Calder said.

“She started saying she’s not going to calm down and wanted off the plane and such.”

She said she quickly became worried about her 15-year-old daughter’s safety.

“I (was just) worried (the angry passenger was) going to go even more irate and so I just put my back toward my daughter and shielded my daughter in case this woman decided to,” Ms Calder said.

“I was one row behind the emergency exit door. Now, we were landed but who knows what this woman could have done.”

In the video taken by passenger Chianti Washington and posted to Facebook, fellow flyers are seen praying and consoling each other during the woman’s meltdown.

“She was yelling at the two gentlemen that were trying to block her — it was very scary,” Ms Washington told ABC News.

“She would just not stop, and as police escorted her off the aircraft continued to remain belligerent.

“All I could think about was the children on the aircraft — I said a prayer. You just didn’t know what she was going to do. We were very much scared and shaken by her behaviour.”

Ms Washington told click2houston.com at least one flight attendant was in tears after the incident and that other crew members handed out tissues to passengers who were crying.

“Just to be in that confined space when someone that is going through something very traumatic in their life and there’s nothing you can do,” Ms Washington said.

“There’s nowhere you can go.”

Eventually, police took the woman off the aircraft and sent her to a hospital for a mental health evaluation after being told she is a military veteran who suffers from PTSD, according to KHOU.

“That saddens me,” Ms Calder said. “Now looking back at it all you just wish there was somebody on that plane (who) could have helped at that moment.”

An hour after the frightening incident, flight 346 took off for Minneapolis.

In a statement, Spirit spokesman Stephen Schuler said the woman “became erratic and irate and was removed from the aircraft with the assistance of law enforcement”.

“We apologise to our guests who had to witness this and for the inconvenience of the delay. Safety is our top priority at Spirit Airlines.”